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B.1.3.2.1
Jain Festivals (Parva) & Pilgrimage (Tirthayātra)
Dr. Shugan Chand Jain
Both festivals and pilgrimages are the events/activities which provide us an opportunity to break the monotony of routine daily life and do things differently so that we get refreshed and move forward in life with greater enthusiasm. Jain philosophy being highly spiritual; emphasizes these events to expedite the purification of soul and attain bliss ultimately. Hence its festivals and pilgrimage aim to give its followers a deeper insight into the path of spiritual purification. To encourage the laities in observing these events as per the Jain sacred literature, its ācāryas have enumerated umpteen benefits like social, cultural, religious and philosophical accrued by the practitioner as a result. Nemicandra Bhandārī Upadeśasidhānta Ratnamālā" says:
So jayai jena vihiasamvaccharacāumāsidha supavvā ! nimda dhayāna jāyai jasa mahāpāu dhammamai II
Hail those great monks and acāryas who have established the celebration of festivals like samvatsarī, aştāhnika, daśalaksana etc due to which even the down trodden and condemned people become religious.
We shall now briefly review these two important aspects of Jain rituals here.
A. Festivals Festivals are normally associated with celebration i.e. of merry making/ exchanging gifts and having a good time. Once a festival is over we are again engrossed in the rudimentary of our worldly existence. Every community has its own festivals and ways of celebrating them. Festivals are an integral part of human life in all societies in general and Jains in particular. Most of the communities think of acquiring new worldly objects, cleaning and decorating their dwellings, enjoying sumptuous foods, merry making etc to celebrate festivals. When we observe festivals of a community, we can learn about its culture, its makeup, objectives and principles propagated.
For Jains, festivals have a different connotation. In as much as they are celebrations, yet the main objective is long term accomplishment of Bliss and not just momentary pleasures.
1 Upadeśasidhanta Ratnamālā, verse 26
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